ENFIELD — Special education teacher Connie Mazzetta says she doesn't have a "typical" day; instead, she moves from classroom to classroom, helping students and teachers communicate.

"I have to, in my role as a consultant, help adults understand that their behavior influences a child's behavior," Mazzetta said. "It's way easier to change an adult's behavior to support a child's behavior, and I have to do that with tact and respect. ... That's what I have to do with all teachers — develop a relationship where it doesn't feel like, 'Who is she to tell me what to do?'"

Mazzetta helps reinforce what her students are learning through repetition or by using technology, like iPads, to help her non-verbal students communicate their needs.

Mazzetta, 53, a special education teacher at Hazardville Memorial School and a district-wide behavior analyst, was selected as Enfield's Teacher of the Year on Monday, one of seven eligible candidates nominated, according to teacher of the year committee Chairwoman Sarah Collins. Hazardville Memorial School Principal Jim Graham nominated Mazzetta.

"She's compassionate, skilled and all-around just a solid teacher," Graham said Tuesday. "For me, when I'm nominating someone for an award of this caliber, my benchmark is — how many kids are they impacting?"

Currently, Mazzetta said she has around 30 children in her case load, primarily in the preschool age-range, many of whom have autism or other significant developmental disabilities. Several have a difficult time communicating or don't talk at all.

"I like the challenge. I like working with these different age groups, Mazzetta said Tuesday. "I like being able to follow some of these kids I've known since pre-K as they enter the primary years."

Mazzetta lives in Suffield but is originally from Chicago. She graduated from Northern Illinois University before moving to Connecticut in 1988. Before teaching in Enfield, Mazzetta worked at the Gengras Center in West Hartford and earned her master's degree in special education at the University of St. Joseph in West Hartford. She has worked in the Enfield public schools for 20 years.

This is the second year in a row that a Hazardville Memorial School teacher was Enfield's Teacher of the Year. Mazzetta now advances to the competition for Connecticut Teacher of the Year.